Hot Topics:

Resolve to be resilient 2014: Recover properly; keep moving forward

By Kyle Wagner, The Denver Post

Updated:
01/28/2014 08:27:49 AM EST

(Thinkstock)

As January winds down, so does our interest in resolutions. Only 64 percent of Americans who make a resolution to lose weight or become more fit make it past the first month, with 46 percent reaching the six-month mark. In this final installment of our four-part series on resiliency, the ColoradoFit team explores recovery as one of the most crucial components for success, as well as how to find motivation to keep moving forward. Here's to becoming strong enough to bounce back from whatever life throws your way in 2014.

You can exercise too much.

“People just tend to go gangbusters, trying to get a whole year's worth of workouts in one month this time of year,” says certified personal trainer Dana Fullington. “You're going to burn out, or you're going to get hurt, or you're focusing so much on the working out that you're not paying attention to the other things your body needs.”

Fullington explains that exercise is damage, and the actions of recovery repair that damage. “We're such a go, go, go society, and it can be hard to convince ourselves that it's OK to stop,” says the fitness and nutrition coach, who specializes in TRX, small-group training and fat loss through Small Group Fit Club ( smallgroupfitclub.com). “But your muscle tissues need rest in order to recover, and you need to replenish your energy stores.”

She recommends no more than three hardcore workouts — ones involving high-intensity or longer duration — per week.

Advertisement

“Being active every day is fine, but there should be days of moderate activity in there and then at least one day a week that feels like a break,” she says. “It doesn't have to be a day completely off, but it should be something that lets your muscles off the hook from what you've been doing the other days.”

In addition, Fullington recommends the following regimen of “thoughtful recovery.”

Stretch

Stretching seems to go in and out of fashion, but Fullington says that what's at issue is not whether it should be done at all, but when and in what format.

“We used to say that, if possible, you should stretch directly after cooling down or within 10 minutes after finishing your exercise,” she says. “There have been studies recently debunking the idea that you need to stretch immediately after exercising. However, you should still be stretching at some point on a regular basis.”

The stretches should be dynamic, or done while moving — as opposed to static stretches, which are held for a period of time while you are motionless — to avoid injury.

“The reason I tell my clients to stretch right after they work out is that most folks don't stretch on their own time once they leave the gym,” Fullington says. “Also, I just think it's better to build that into the workout. If you only have an hour to get your workout in, you're going to devote that time to fat-burning, right? But if you set it up so that you say, 'Ten minutes at the end, that's for stretching,' your body will move so much better for it.”

Hydrate

This is an easy one — filling a bottle with water and having it on hand during your workout could not be more convenient — and yet, Fullington says, “I see people run into trouble all the time while they're exercising, clearly dehydrated. The thing is, when your body loses too much fluid as you work out, your heart rate and your blood pressure fall. You just can't sustain the activity under those conditions.”

So, drink water before you work out, drink water while you're working out, and drink water after you're done working out.

“Water supports every metabolic function and nutrient transfer in the body,” Fullington says. “Having plenty of water on hand will improve those functions.”

Eat the right foods

Unless you're competing in an ultramarathon, you don't need to turn your kitchen into a science lab — just try to eat within 60 minutes after you finish your workout, and include some form of lean, high-quality protein (muscles need protein to grow) and complex carbohydrates.

“Just be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that it's OK to eat anything and everything in sight just because you worked out,” Fullington says. “And doughnuts are not on the list.”

What is? Things like a banana with a slice of whole-grain toast, apple slices with peanut butter, tuna fish on whole-wheat crackers, vegetable stir fry with brown rice.

Rest

“Your body has an amazing capacity to take care of itself if you give it time,” Fullington says. “The key is paying attention to when your body needs more time.”

Not only should you be striving for seven to eight hours of sleep, but you should take it easy when you feel tired.

“Not feeling like working out is one thing, but you know that sometimes you actually feel exhausted, and you push yourself anyway,” Fullington says. “That's when we usually get sick. And if you know you're getting sick and you work out anyway — that's not always the best idea.

“It's such a shame that we are made to feel guilty about resting,” she says. “Doing nothing can be very, very good for you.”

As you put all of the steps together and work on becoming more resilient, remember that perfection is not possible.

“Understanding that you're not going to be perfect, but then no one else is either, that's a powerful realization,” says Dianne Bailey, a personal trainer with a 4th-degree black belt in Taekwondo. “We're bombarded by this perception of perfection every day — on billboards, from advertising, on TV. We expect it from our sports figures, our celebrities. It's ridiculous. It's an illusion.”

Instead of trying to achieve unattainable goals, Bailey suggests concentrating on one step or one change at a time. For instance, if you're starting a new exercise regimen, try it for a few weeks before overhauling your diet.

“It's so easy to get discouraged at the beginning, when your body is adjusting,” says Bailey, who owns The Conditioning Classroom ( theconditioningclassroom.com), a personal-training studio, with her son, Grant Pettigrew. “A lot of people think that the early soreness from the workouts or the headaches from dropping sugar, that those things never end. They think, 'I can't feel like this forever.'”

“Well, of course not. But if they can just get through one day, the next day, they'll feel stronger and better. And then the next day, even more so.”

Each week that you succeed in doing something good for your body is a week that is healthier than the last, Bailey says.

“You're either moving toward health, or you're moving toward disease,” she says. “Make better choices and pick health. Do it over and over, and it will get easier to keep doing it. Then you'll start feeling better, and you'll really know why it's the right choice.”